VOTIVE CANDLES

The Best Use of Waste Wax

While making large candles, it makes sense to set up votive candle molds for using with extra wax and wasted wax. Small votive candles are excellent with the many small safe candle containers available, such as for using on a nighttable in the bedroom. Wasted wax can be chips of wax from spills, and extra wax is colored wax left over when a large mold is filled. Votive candle molds are sold singly, or in sets wired or molded together. One type has no hole in the bottom, therefore a standing wire wick is placed in a metal wick holder in the center of the mold. A red plastic set of six being sold has holes in the tops for wicking the usual way.

If colorful wax chips are used to fill the molds, melted wax will glue them all together , making a cheerful little candle. Or, you could fill several molds partway with one color of excess wax, then later fill the rest of the way with one or more other colors. I always keep votive molds wicked as I make large candles, because then the effort of making them is so small that they basically come free. And it's an excellent use for chips of spilled wax which otherwise might be thrown away.